Deployable screen systems are well known in the industry. There are many reasons for using a deployable screen as opposed to fixed screens. For example, in areas where insects or other pests are present for only part of the day or for a season, screens are only needed during such time when the pest is present. Another example is in areas which are not used during certain periods. For example, a porch need not be screened during the winter months in Duluth, Minn., because it is too cold to use the porch during winter and, even if used, there would be no pests that need to be kept out.
Often, deployable screens include a flexible screen fabric that is stored on a roller (when not in use) and weighted along a bottom edge to allow deployment as the screen fabric is unrolled. In some cases, the left and right edges of the screen fabric are in a track to seal the screen over a certain area. Such systems function well for an area that is bounded by walls and of limited size, but for larger areas or areas not bounded by walls, such systems have performance problems.
For large areas such as wide garage doors, hanger doors and the like, the roller for storing such deployable screens of the prior art must be long enough as to contain the width of the screens. This results in very long rollers that need to be very rigid since a center support is not feasible due to the continuous width of the screen fabric. If the long rollers are not stiff enough, bowing results and the screen does not deploy evenly and bends and/or creases as it is retracted.
For areas that are not bounded by walls, it is very difficult to provide deployable screen solutions. For example, if there is a roof providing a top cover and three open sides areas, as often found in porch areas, but no corner structures, three separate deployable screens are required, one for each of the open sides. Because this porch area has no corner structures, there is no way to provide a side track for each of the screen fabrics when they are deployed. This leaves each of the two corners open after deployment, requiring some method of fastening to prevent unwanted pests/insects from entering at the corners. Before retraction, the fasteners require disengagement or the screen fabric will be damaged.
What is needed is a system for automatically deploying screens over a large area.